Religion and Mental Illness

[healthbound]

I've read a few articles about religion and mental illness lately, which happens to be very timely since I just finished a book about a woman who escaped a FLDS polygamist compound. The book allowed me to reflect on several years of my past that I don't usually reflect on.

I know religion and mental illness don't always go hand in hand and I realize one often exists without the other. But in my life, they seem to have been linked.

The experiences I've been recalling lately are ones when I was in my early teens. My parents split up when I was 11 and it triggered depression with psychosis for my mom. My experience of her before their divorce was extremely different than my experience of her after they split up. She became an entirely different person and it was very traumatic. One of the major changes she went through was becoming religious.

She didn't just become religious though. She completely changed her life, clothes, mannerisms, speech, facial expressions, schedule etc. It was very bizarre to witness. Anyway, I'm getting away from the question I wanted to ask...

Why is it that so many hallucinations or psychosis is about religion? How can it be that people who are experiencing psychosis are having such similar hallucinations?

Or even take the religion out of the equation. How can so many people have such similar hallucinations (I'm not sure if hallucination is the right word...maybe delusions)?

I remember realizing (for the first time) that my mom may have a mental illness when I was about 22. It's still shocking to me that I didn't realize it sooner and that it went undiagnosed all those years. And it's even more shocking that no one ELSE seemed to "notice" either, but anyway....that's another post.

I was doing research for an essay and reading through some psychology books when I read (for the first time) a description of schizophrenia. This particular book provided examples of what a person experiencing psychosis might say or think.

There were examples of quotes a person experiencing psychosis might say. They were about religion, special powers and paranoia. It was overwhelming to read such accurate descriptions of my mother. It was also shocking since my own perceptions of reality were being challenged. Like, up until then I actually thought our phones were tapped and that my dad actually did hire spies to watch us all the time. I thought our house was under 24 hour suvellance and I was always careful about what I said (my mom didn't want me talking about what she was doing because she didn't want "them" to know). I also honestly believed my dad had ties to the mafia and had payed people to make my mom's life miserable (just to clarify - I believed these things because my mom told me they were happening, not because I was experiencing psychosis ). Anyway....off track again...(kind of odd that I've never been diagnosed with ADD!)

I'm wondering why it seems that so many psychotic episodes involve so many similar people/things/concepts (eg: God, mafia, masons, musicians, movie stars etc). How is it that an illness can cause such common and specific hallucinations for so many diverse people? It's amazing to me that so many people could have the exact same thoughts (ie: "I think the phone is being tapped" or "People can hear my thoughts"). Perhaps it is similar to how other illnesses cause a particular set of symptoms. But then again, how can an illness cause a particular set of thoughts or fears?

Anyway, if any of this post is inappropriate, please feel free to delete. I'm not trying to make generalizations about all people who experience psychosis, I'm just trying to make some sense of my experiences with my mom as well as with my own perceptions about some aspects of psychosis.

And maybe I'm just processing. A lot of memories, thoughts and emotions were sparked by reading the book I mentioned. I think I'm just still in awe about how significant our minds are to our reality. Mental illness is called just that for a reason. It's an illness of the mind. Therefore, it makes sense that it would create similar reactions in the mind. And even though I haven't experience psychosis, I certainly know what it's like to have my perceptions of reality altered and challenged.

Maybe I'll write more (another time) about my own experiences rather than putting a general and somewhat vague question "out there".

Or maybe I'll just delete this. I'm starting to feel like I'm leaving one of my long winded voice messages and realizing that I've rambled on for way too long, but can't remember which number to press in order to delete and re-record. Oh well, like my long winded voice messages, I might as well just leave it as it is.

 

[Daniel E.]

How can it be that people who are experiencing psychosis are having such similar hallucinations?

Of course, there is variety as well, e.g. "Do you see the Chinese man in the corner?"

Regarding the commonalities, we all have had dreams of aliens and UFOs, so there is an intersection between our "collective unconscious" (or the shared genes of the human species or whatever) and our current environment and culture.

 

[braveheart]

I'll reply properly later.
Is the book 'Escape'? Or 'Not without my sister'?
[I've read them both....]

I'm currently reading 'Keeping Faith' by Jodi Picoult which raises a lot of the issues you discuss here.
I've also been involved with a minority religious organisation, whose practices led me close to psychosis.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

You may have already seen this article, which perhaps explains some of it: God And Religion: Is It All In Our Heads? - Psychlinks Psychology Self-Help & Mental Health Forum

 

[healthbound]

Hey...sorry it took me a while to reply.

Daniel - I guess it's the collective consciousness (or whatever it is) that is so fascinating to me. But I suppose it's fascinating because it is the mind that is producing commonalities rather than our physical bodies. When I think of it in terms of common symptoms psychosis verses common symptoms of a cold, my mind can grasp it a bit better. But still - amazing that we can manifest intangibles (ie: thoughts, fears) that are so similar. I dunno...it's bending my brain for some reason, lol.

Dr Baxter - yes, I did read that article and that's exactly what got me going, lol!

Braveheart - Yes, the book I read was "Escape" by Carolyn Jessop. I considered reading the other books you mentioned, but haven't yet. I'd love to hear what you thought of them and how they are affecting you and your memories.

I found her book to be very motivating in terms of her fortitude. It reminded me of growing up in an environment knowing something was really wrong, but not being able to clearly identify it until adulthood. I admired that she was able to hold onto that part of her that new she wasn't "the problem" even though her family, community, religion was telling her otherwise. The pressure to second guess herself must have been enormous, but she still maintained that there was a better life for her and her children elsewhere.

I don't know what that part of a human is called (fortitude, instinct, god...), but it seems that not everyone can a) identify that part and b) believe it and trust it enough to act on it. Maybe it's resiliency. I don't know. It seems that there are more people who don't have "it" than don't since we know there are hundreds still in the compounds.

I've struggled to hold onto that part of me sometimes, but I suppose I've maintained it in the end in many ways too.